Quite often you can meet situations when, when installing some software or in order to improve the performance of Windows operating systems, you have to interfere with the so-called system registry, but not with changing user settings, but with editing the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section. How to log in to Windows 8 in this thread or in any other system, and will be further considered. We will make a reservation right away: editing parameters is necessary only if there is a clear understanding that this can cause irreparable harm to the entire operating system.
What is a registry?
In general, leaving aside the question of how to enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (SYSTEM) or another subsection, it is worth noting that the Windows registry is a kind of registration table for all installed components and settings.
Here, data is stored not only about the system’s own tools, but also about all device drivers or user applications. Roughly speaking, no program can work if it is not registered, however, like the system services themselves. In the same way, it is impossible to open a single file about which information is not entered in the registry.
Why do I need a Windows registry?
The problem of how to enter the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry branch is solved quite simply. This whole process can fit on one line. But for an understanding to be more complete, for a start we will dwell on why all this is necessary.
Roughly speaking, all programs or data (any information) presented in the form of files must somehow be recognized by the operating system itself, not to mention that all hardware devices must function correctly using the drivers installed for them. How can the OS identify them? The primary BIOS system only works at the very beginning of the computer’s boot, and the operating system starts only after that.
And the data for downloading is taken from the registry. By the way, if you paid attention to Windows recovery processes, first of all, it restores the registry from a previously created backup. However, user files are reportedly not affected. This is understandable, the recovery priority is set for the operability of the software, which at the time of some unexpected failure could already be deleted. And so - no problem! Through the restoration of the registry, you can restore those applications that are currently not in the system.
Note: program files are not physically deleted from the hard drive, they are only renamed, and in the names the first character is replaced with unreadable (usually this is $ or ~ $). Thus, it is simple enough to identify all the files marked with such attributes in order to restore the operation of any program. By this principle, by the way, almost all currently known utilities work, allowing you to recover lost information on any type of media, including not only hard drives, but also flash devices, external USB-HDDs or even memory cards of the most popular standards.
What data is stored in the HKLM branch?
But back to the registry branch itself. Again, before deciding how to log in to Windows 8.1) in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, you need to understand exactly what data is stored here.
Basically, they relate to system settings, with the parameters of which you must be very careful when editing.
Depending on the OS version, partitions may be different. But the main points are SOFTWARE, HARDWARE and SYSTEM. As already clear, they correspond to the software, hardware and system parts. In other words, the first section stores information about installed programs, the second is responsible for drivers and hardware, and in the third, the OS settings are stored.
How to enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Windows 7 or any other system in the fastest way?
Now directly about the entrance. The question of how to enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in any of the currently known Windows-systems is solved quite simply.
In this case, we are talking about using the Run and Console programs and services launch console, in which the standard regedit command corresponding to the executable EXE file is written. After logging in, simply expand the branch in the directory tree located on the left.
How to enter Windows 7 into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE from Explorer
But the above method is not the only one. In the same way, just the question of how to enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE can be resolved by using the manual launch of the program file.
It is called regedit.exe and is located in the System32 folder. In this case, even starting as administrator is not required, since the system will still ask for confirmation of the right to intervene. Another thing is when you want to merge by running a key file with the REG extension. And here the administrator’s rights are required, because the system will simply not let you make changes to the registry.
Registry Editing
With editing, as already noted, you must be extremely careful. The price of the issue is the performance of the entire system.
This problem is only due to the fact that, unlike other Windows programs and settings that offer the user to save the changes made, there can be no question of such a thing in the registry editor (if they corrected something, even when the editor is closed, the changes will take effect automatically automatically). Thus, simply by changing one key, you can bring the whole system to complete crash. Without special need, this branch is best left untouched.
Defragment and clear junk data
So, how to enter HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, more or less figured out. There should be no problems with editing issues either. Now a few words about defragmenting the registry. Many users underestimate this problem, to put it mildly. But in vain, since it is precisely because of the presence of problematic keys in the registry that loading the system can become quite long.
As already clear, this is akin to hard disk operations, but the difference is not only in organizing the records and keys stored in it, but also in removing unnecessary ones. What is the point? At startup, the operating system scans the registry, and the more keys it contains, the longer it takes to download. The conclusion suggests itself: the registry needs to be cleaned from time to time. But how to do that?
The easiest way is to use special optimizer programs that allow automatic cleaning and defragmentation without much user intervention. Among the most popular utilities are CCleaner, Advanced SystemCare, Glary Utilities, and many others. In the kit of their tools there are a lot of modules for all occasions, including actions with the system registry. But you can use narrowly targeted utilities, rather than comprehensive system care programs. There are also plenty of them. But if you look, it is better to use comprehensive care, since the modules included in the programs provide additional cleaning and acceleration.
Is it worth it to change the keys yourself?
Finally, the answer to the most important question almost asked how much it is advisable and unsafe to change the values ​​of registry keys. The medal has two sides. It seems to be undesirable to change these parameters, but, on the other hand, it may be impossible to activate or deactivate some settings of system components without interfering with the registry, in particular, in the settings branch mentioned above.
If the usual optimization of loading the operating system is required, optimizer applications are best suited. If you want to enable certain services or activate some components of the system itself, you can’t do without intervention using the manual configuration mode. Therefore, one must be extremely careful not to cause such damage to the system that it will stop working altogether and will not even show signs of life. After that, sometimes it may even require a complete reinstall.
In any case, it is necessary to approach the issues of parameter changes as thoughtfully as possible, and without understanding the essence of the actions performed at a certain moment without the need for the system registry, it is better not to climb at all.